Promise (PewdieCry)
by Milk-n-Pork
Summary: "Hey, Cry. What happens if we grow up? Are we really going to forget each other?" "Just promise me one thing, Pewds." Childhood friends that meet only in their dreams, will they overcome the problems they are faced with?
1. Chapter 1

Most of today's movies and media mislead and distort the true nature of dreams: making up false, imaginitive interpretations of what we truly see when we sleep. For example, the dream world itself. It's not a product of your subconscious imagination. You see, dreams are a way to travel to the boundary of two worlds - the place where they are weaved together. One is a world that is our own, and another which we are yet to know of.

In the odd occasion, however, it can also connect people from the same world; usually these people don't know each other outside the dream. That's exactly the case on how I met my best friend Pewds, back when we were little.

He sat beside me, joking and laughing with such innocent joy. We were on an area in the forest where the trees were few, giving us a perfect view of the spectrum of colors in the sky above us. The tall trees sparkled with their large colorful leaves shading our cheeks that puffed with laughter and youth.

I snapped myself out of my daze and glanced at him to check why he grew silent. I was surprised to find uncertainty in his now troubled light blue gaze that stared at me intently. "What's wrong, friend?"

He sighed, leaning back to lie down and watch the oddly-shaped clouds float towards the other end of the rainbow sky. "You just had that look in your eyes and, well... it reminded me of something that has been bothering me for a while."

"What is it?" I faced him completely, sensing that something was definitely wrong. Pewdie was a cheerful person; it was rare for him to be bothered this much.

"I was thinking..." he began, continously tracing the sky with his eyes. "What are we going to do when we grow up?" My eyes widened as I realized that this was bothering him, too. The thought had crossed my mind too but I always shrugged it off, not wanting to worry about the future too much. "What's going to happen? Will we really forget each other, everything we've been through?" he grieved, the stress radiating from his voice.

I couldn't stand seeing him like this. "Come here, you..." I pulled him up, beckoning for him to sit beside me. He sat up, only to let his head fall sidewards and towards my lap, adjusting to make himself comfortable on the makeshift pillow. I almost giggled as my lap was tickled by the shifting pressure, smiling at how adorable he was being. "How about this... Let's promise that when the time comes and we can't see each other in these dreams anymore, we'll find each other in the real world." I suggested, smiling softly at him as I played with blonde locks. "Promise?

Silence lingered for a moment and our gazes locked for what felt like forever. I found myself lost in the world beyond his sky blue orbs that in turn marvelled in my own pair of midnight hues. The lighter blue narrowed as he grinned widely and finally said, "Promise."

As we looked towards the sky, my fingers now away from his ruffled locks and entwined with his own digits, I pondered over the warm feeling soaring in my chest. _What could it be?_ I thought. _What is this uncontrollable happiness bubbling from within me?_ I was too young back then to understand.

But the old woman who interrupted our little moment knew. She hated us for it, in fact. Whenever she caught us in that forest, our favorite place, she would run towards us, even with her injured leg that made her walk weirdly, waving her cane towards us and cursing and spitting insults at us until she finally lost us in the chase. She said that "love mustn't bloom in the dream world, and most definitely not between two of the same gender." In retrospect, maybe she just didn't want to see people fall in love, knowing it would all eventually fall apart when they stop dreaming and "grow up".Then again, that wouldn't make her homophobia any reasonable.

Despite this, we didn't laugh and jump in joy nor sigh in relief when the news arrived that she had passed away of old age. Maybe we were too innocent of her hate, or too pure-hearted to hold grudges.

When we arrived to her house with the intention of offering flowers to her grave and wishing her a peaceful rest, neither Pewds nor I was expecting to be yelled at then kicked out by her hateful grandson - that one kid who watched us from afar and gave us that cold stare when we invited him to come play with us - Marcus.

He was devastated when the old woman, his only companion, passed away. Pewds and I tried to comfort him, but he pushed everyone, especially us two, away. Eventually, we just gave up and bid goodbye to what once was our forest since it was near his house.

When he recovered from the loss, he didn't apologize nor return to his usual, loner self. He chased us around, just as his grandmother used to, except he held a knife and was more hysterical, screaming and laughing as he ran ten times as fast as the weird walking of his late grandma.

You might be thinking, "What's the point? It's just a dream, you can't die..." Well that's one more thing the movies got wrong: if you die in a dream, you die in real life.

Marcus was at our tail even when we became teenagers. And by this time, Pewds and I knew a lot more about the world and we finally understood the weird tingling feeling in our chests as our hearts beat in sync. We realized we were in love, and cheesy as it sounds - it all felt so perfect, as if we were made for each other.

I still find myself blushing when I remember our first kiss. How natural it felt when we leaned towards each other, the way our love overflowed when our lips touched for the first time and with reddened cheeks, we fell to the ground but I could barely feel the impact, the numbing passion overpowering it as Pewds lay on top of me - then I felt a warm, wet muscle graze my lips ever so slightly...

Now that I think about it, we've never really said "I love you" throughout our relationship. Maybe because it was obvious we felt the same, or maybe our love was different, determined by fate ever since we met when were little and there was no need to declare it, because deep in our hearts, we knew it was there and always will be.

But Marcus was intent on breaking it, destroying it, shattering our world to pieces. And there was no way we would allow him to.

"Come out, come out wherever you are~" the black-haired male sang, clasping the knife in his fisted right hand. I could see his twisted smile through the small peephole wherein Pewds and I hid behind a door.

"We have to wake up Cry." the Swede whispered, tiptoeing to look for something to use in the room. Finding a kitchen knife, he hands it over to me. "You first, bro."

"No, no, no. I have to make sure you get away safely." I protested, pushing it back towards him. "D-Don't worry, it'll just be a second or two of pain. I'll-I'll be here." I tried to disguise my fear as looking out for him, but failed miserably.

"But I can't just-" He stopped his sentence midway - or he was forced to stop, rather - as his face scrunched in pain. "C-Cry..."

I didn't do it... It just slipped from my hand, I didn't stab him... No... "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Pewds..." I repeated my apology like a mantra, catching him in my arms as his body fell limp and blood trickled down his arm. The knife fell from my hands, clattering to the floor with a loud high-pitched noise. I kissed his forehead, as if in compensation. "I'll be following you, don't- don't worry about it, Pewds."

This was one of the hardest things to do in a dream: to wake up. A simple pinch doesn't do anything, yet at the same time if you get killed, you die for real. To wake up, the pain has to be intolerable, but not fatal. Either that, or forces outside the dream world will wake you up. The beep of an alarm clock, the gentle poking of your little brother waking you up for school... But if you're in trouble in the dream, do you think external forces will wake you up in the middle of a quiet night?

As tears ran down my cheeks, I felt the air take over the space that once was Pewds. I sniffed the tears away, turning around, only to meet Marcus' gaze, his twisted grin widening even more as if that was possible.

"Found you~"

I ducked and took the shining metal off the floor and clasped it with a shaky fist, glaring at him, and the madman raised a brow in challenge, thinking I was going to fight back and being momentarily shocked when I clenched my eyes and drew a bloody line from my elbow down to my wrist. The pain was _intolerable,_ alright.

As my consciousness finally slipped away, faintly I heard Marcus groan in frustration at being so close to catching us yet failing again. My vision blurred and refocused to the cream white ceiling of my room. I sigh in relief, nervously awaiting the next night to come and knowing next time, he would only be an inch behind our tails. I dreaded it, but the thought of him catching Pewdie added to my anxiety.

And when the night surrounded me, I had no choice but to dream.

The dream world was nothing like I've seen before. I was used to the everchanging scenery, but this... This was a nightmare. Hellish vermillion lights glowed and scattered about the rough, rocky ground. They would have been beautiful, if not for the fact that when I took a closer look, I realized they were glowing red eyes that followed me with their gaze. They made me nauseous so I kept my distance, the pitch black surrounding me the only thing I could see while I eyed the trail of red lights from afar so as to not lose my way. Twisted, wide grins of malice stared down at me and I could feel their glares burning through my back, vanishing with loud sadistic laughter when I turned around.

"Pewds?" I called out, but my own voice only bounced back the walls I couldn't see. "Pewds!" I tried once more, louder. Again, only the echoes of my voice filled the silence which now started to make me nervous.

I decided to look around, - not that I had a choice not to, anyway - following the trail of nauseous red from afar and not really knowing what to expect when I reach the end. The harsh, earsplitting voices still wouldn't stop but I tried to ignore them as I wandered aimlessly. Better than nothing, I guess. I'd rather look around for Pewdie, to whom my worry still hasn't ceased, than sit here and do nothing while he could be in danger in this nightmare.

"Pewds!" I shouted. For a moment, I wondered if I was really looking for him because he might have been in danger or because I was seeking the comfort of his arms, longing to hear his voice again.

Maybe it was both.

"Well, well, well... Look who's finally arrived."

My head snapped up, anger instantly igniting as soon as I realized whose voice it belonged to. "Where is he?!" I growled demandingly, leaping towards him. The bastard only smirked wider when my anger melted like ice as the figure behind him came to view.

"Pewds..." I whispered shakily, calling his name for the hundredth time since I arrived here. Marcus extended a hand between us, that fucking cocky smirk still present as he pushed the heavily-bruised, chained blonde away from me. "You... What did you do to him?!"

"It's not what I did that will finally ruin you two, Cry." He takes something out from his pocket. Some sort of vial..? "It's what I'm about to do."

Shadowed, ghostly hands crept around my limbs and gripped me tightly before I could react. I struggled desperately, reaching out a hand towards my beloved. He did the same, my own desperation reflected in his empty, sapphire eyes.

No... This isn't the end. I kicked and squirmed, tried to get free, groaning and yelling in frustration. Pewdie seemed to be doing the same with his chains which probably bruised his wrists, and sadness washed over me as I saw the tears prickle beneath his eyes.

I wanted to hug him and comfort him, tell him to stop, it's okay now, don't cry, just wake up, but even he knew it wasn't okay. We either die here together, or the thin chance of us waking up but being traumatized to ever dream again. This would be our final goodbye. I only wished it was in a happier atmosphere. He looked like he was at the brink of giving up, sweat and tears streaming down his face that cringed in pain and sadness and all the negative feelings of the world.

Meanwhile, the perpetrator of our demise was laughing madly, drowning in his victory and the state he'd driven us to: his cruel masterpiece. I wanted to tear his flesh for making my Pewdie suffer and laugh at the sweet revenge, but I couldn't. I was too weak.

I felt my consciousness and willpower slip from my grasp and all I saw was my beloved blonde struggling, never giving up while I already had. He noticed the halt in my struggle and the last I saw were empty and regretful blue eyes.

"You're strong, love. But it's time to let go."


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke with a gasp, panting and sweating and clasping the sheets that were white as my knuckles. It had been a while since I last had a nightmare, and yet all of them were the same scene, over and over. It was like the Devil gave me a chance to redo my mistakes and laugh as I fail over and over, doing me nothing good but remind me of the last time I saw my teenage love.

I did try to look for him, like we promised, but it's hard to look for someone throughout the globe if all you know is his nickname and everything about his personality but nothing about his actual personal information. Eventually, I gave up - or _grew_ up, rather.

Well, I'm older now, and I've gotten over my vivid childhood imaginations now. I've moved on with life, made friends, got into a college... But there's no denying that a part of me, a part I've somehow finally sustained, still misses the sapphire orbs that used to gaze at me longingly.

I got up from bed, not bothering to fold the sheets in place, and headed for the bathroom, cursing the late morning light as I slumped to the doorway.

I feel like there's something I'm forgetting...

The high pitch of Savant's ISM rang from my phone which was probably back at the bedroom and I went to pick it up after finishing up my morning rituals. Expecting it to be the phone's alarm, I picked it up and was momentarily confused when Ken's picture flashed on the screen. I answered the call with a sigh, wondering what the hell he was doing calling me this early- Oh wait, it's 10 am.

"Hello?" My voice sounded so weird in the morning...

"Dude, are you coming or not?" The bearded man raged. "You forgot, didn't you?" There it was. I thought I forgot something.

"I... Hahaha..." I laughed nervously. "Forgot what?"

"So he did forget! Look at the calendar." he commanded. As he said, I glanced at the calendar on the wall. September 21... What's special abou this day? He sounded mad, so I guessed...

I faked a gasp, hoping my guess would be correct. "How could I forget?! It's your special day, right?"

"And...?"

What else? I tapped my finger in thought. I just woke up, I can't really think straight! How am I supposed to remember? "Um... Happy birthday?"

Ken sighed in defeat. "You were supposed to come to my party, like, 2 hours ago? Does that ring a bell?" he mocked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Uh... right." I nodded, scratching the back of my head. Now I remember... "Sorry, I'll be right there."

"Just hurry." he muttered before hanging up.

I quickly got changed and straightened myself up. I almost forgot to bring the gift - even though his birthday completely left my mind, I'm still good enough a friend to buy him a decent gift. Not long after, I found myself standing in front of Ken's house, where lined up outside were cars of other visitors. Some were hanging out in the front yard chatting as they watched the road, while some were inside, where Ken probably was, too. I greeted the people I knew and nodded back to the ones I've met before.

Inside, I looked for the birthday celebrant through the crowd and saw him talking to the other guests. Taking a glass of some juice I assumed was orange-flavored, I went up to him and offered a high-five when he noticed me.

"Ken! Happy birthday, friend." I greeted, laughing as he declined my offer and crossed his arms.

"You're late." He looked at his watch and cocked a brow at me.

"Hey, at least I'm still here!" I pouted. "Oh well. I was going to give you this super-awesome game to you as a gift but since you aren't so grateful..." I waved the present in front of his face.

"Shut up..." He beamed, punching my shoulder playfully, then took the gift. "You go ahead and eat up. I have guests to entertain." he excused himself.

"Okay, mommy!" I teased and he rolled his eyes. Walking to the table of foods and drinks, I got myself some chicken lollipops and glanced around for anybody I knew to maybe have a little chit-chat with.

Then, golden locks came to sight.

_No... No, it couldn't be,_ I thought, pushing through the crowd of familiar faces. _Pewds...?_

Finally, I caught up to him, barely managing to touch his shoulder. He turned around, and I saw how much he had changed, and how he looked just like when I last saw him.

Pale, young skin was now darkened, and there was a bit of a stubble on his chin. His hair was now combed neatly, in contrast to his previous playful, disheveled locks and they had grown longer. Sapphire eyes glistened just like his large curious eyes before.

"Um... Can I help you?" he asked, a confused expression on his face. I noticed his voice had gone down a few octaves and his accent was much more prominent.

"Pewds... I finally found you!" I exclaimed, pulling him to my arms. He stiffened at my actions, and I pulled away, confusedly looking at him. "Do you remember? It's me, Cry!"

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person." he replied calmly. I felt my heart clench.

"What do you mean? I-It's me! Remember? We promised we'd find each other..." I took a step towards him, taking his hands in mine.

"I don't think I know you, sir..." He pulls away from my grasp, stepping backwards. "I'm sorry, I'll be going now."

He must have felt guilty because he turned and walked away slowly. This gave me time to seize his wrist, looking down. "Wait..."

"Can you at least... tell me your name?" I let go of his arm.

He hesitated for a moment, before smiling apologetically. "Felix."

I stopped for a moment, deciding whether or not I should tell him my real name. I decided against it. "Cry." We shook hands and he disappeared through the crowd once more.

The party lasted until nighttime and some of the guests went home, but I stayed, mainly because Ken was a good friend of mine and partly also because I didn't want to give up on Felix just yet. What if it was him all along? I couldn't just let this second chance vanish before my eyes.

"Are you sure about this, Cry? How do you know he's Pewds? Or that Pewds is real in the first place?" Red questioned, her voice toned down so as to not let anyone else hear their conversation.

"I know it, I just know it, Red. He's just like him. I'm not mistaken this time." I defended, leaning on the front porch's rails and staring blankly at the road. "We promised to find each other, and now we've met face to face, but he doesn't..."

"Pewds isn't real, Cry." she declared sternly. "You're just going to get hurt again." Her gaze softened and she touched my hand in comfort. "You know we hate to see you so broken."

"I know, but... I can't just give up."

"You're not giving up, Cry. You're _letting go._"

"But... what if it really is him?"

Red sighed defeatedly. "How about this, Cry: if he's still not the one you're looking for, you have to stop, okay? It's not good for you."

I hesitated. Then again, Red was right. I have to stop. If he still isn't Pewds, I might not be able to handle another rejection. "...Okay."

In a slightly nervous state, I crossed the Rubicon and took a deep breath, stepping towards the living room where nobody else but the handsome blonde sat on the sofa. The other guests which used to occupy the once-crowded room were now probably bidding Ken goodbye and wishing him a happy birthday one last time as the celebrant led them to the door.

I let go of the breath I didn't even notice I had clung to. We were alone, at least. I couldn't just talk to him with everyone else still around.

Then again, what was I supposed to say? What _could_ I say, when the sight of him, all grown up and changed so much since I last saw him only left me breathless and amazed. He had grown to be such a handsome man... I worried that I missed so many years of his life. Was he still the same? Then again, was he really Pewds from my dream?

No use worrying now, I guess. I pushed all thoughts aside, cautiously walking to the front of the sofa where he sat. All hesitant and reluctant thoughts seemed to melt away when his peaceful, sleeping face came to view. He had fallen asleep, how cute. I found myself smiling as I silently sat beside him, staring at his slightly upturned lips.

His expression made me feel... nostalgic. It reminded me of our past dreams when Pewds and I would just hold each other, right after a crazed, wild game of playful wrestling. We would try to catch our breaths, still laughing softly as I rested my head on his chest. And when I looked up, his face would look so beautiful: eyes closed, smile still present...

When I came to from such a refreshing flashback, I found myself staring into those lips, as if there was something... missing.

I couldn't help myself when I leaned over him, his warm and gentle breath brushing against my reddened cheeks. Slowly, almost painfully slowly, I inched closer until my lips grazed over his. I closed my eyes, and finally pressed against him, lips caressing his own; his own that felt just as soft and sweet as when we had kissed for the first time. Fearing that he might wake up, I pulled away, grinning to myself.

Now I was sure. I knew that he was Pewds, that I had finally found him, like I promised. This was no mistake anymore. Maybe he didn't remember me because something made him forget his childhood, or... Um, maybe...

The vial! What if the vial Marcus held made Pewdie lose his memories? Yeah, that has to be the reason!

But you know what? None of that mattered anymore. Now that I'm really sure it's him, I'll just make him remember. Now all I need is-

"I dreamt about you." A thick-accented voice, laced with sleep cut off my optimistic thoughts. I looked at him, confused as I tried to decipher the indiscernible emotion held in sky blue eyes that now were wide open. I couldn't tell what he was thinking... He stood up, stepping closer as he continued to explain, "We were looking up at the sky... Just like we used to before Marcus came in."

"Wait, you-" -remember now. He remembers.

He pulled me in my arms, the same way I did when I saw him at the party, and the sudden show of affection left me speechless. He almost crushed my body against his own as he held me tightly, as if he didn't want to lose me... Well, we did lose each other for a long time.

I sighed, taking in the warmth I so longed to feel after so many years, and murmured, "I'm so glad, you... You... You remember now, right?"

His response was not an answer to my question but it told me everything I needed to know.

"I love you. I'm sorry I never got to say it back then."


End file.
